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Start as you intend to stay – Best practice record management

Did you know that 17 January is known as the Ditch New Year’s Resolution Day? Good diet and exercise is replaced by binge watching Netflix and eating pizza. But for your business, starting the year with best practice’s in mind one new year resolution you shouldn’t break.

Best practice in records management starts with the question, “Does my business have appropriate plans in place to protect the security of its information?”

Any interruption to your business could cost you dearly; in terms of lost revenue, reputation, and respect within the industry for failing to plan for such an event. It could even threaten the survival of your business in terms of decreased business productivity and invoicing.

Recent research revealed that half of Australian small businesses surveyed had lost work due to not backing up files, documents, and work, effectively. This failure to back up is costing the average Australian business between three and ten percent of revenue. 20 percent of small businesses said this data loss had an impact on their professional reputation, and nearly half admitted they’d lost client work because of not backing up.

Ongoing management of your document storage processes is essential as most businesses evolve and change over time. In order to maximise efficiency and effectiveness, document and information storage should not simply be thought of as a ‘set and forget’ system.

The second question to answer for best practice in records management is, “Can I access my archived files if I need them when I need them?”

While information management and security storage form the backbone of best practice information management, the accessibility of records is just as important to ensuring businesses can produce the relevant records needed at the relevant time.

For example, a physiotherapist sees a lot of patients who don’t necessarily visit often. Usually it’s an injury that needs therapy for a period of time and then they may not return for five years. But when they do return, they expect the physiotherapist to have access to their history.

Scan OnDemand from Compu-Stor would be ideal in this situation. As the name sounds, we only scan it when you need it and deliver the digital file directly to you with no delay. This cost-effective capture on demand solution can be ideal for businesses who want to ensure they have a records management and retrieval system in place, but who don’t need access to every document they create.

Access to accurate records for operational and strategic reasons is important for businesses, as professional, accountable and reliable records management can enhance your overall productivity, efficiency and security.

Compu-Stor’s Complete Information Management System (CIMS) is a custom built, online records management system that allows customers to have ultimate control of records from their PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. CIMS is an online portal that helps a business control a seamless document management system from anywhere with internet access.

The third question for ensuring best practice records management is, “When can I get rid of my records that have been archived?”

The proper destruction of business information and documentation is an important part of maintaining client confidentiality, as well as privacy for important business documents. Government regulation and compliance is also an important part of the right way to destroy documents. Make sure you ask about how your record management provider destroys documents and whether it is compliant to all Government regulations.

Document storage can sometimes be a lot to manage, but it should not be overlooked as an integral part of your business function. That’s where Compu-Stor can help. We are constantly devising appropriate and efficient document strategies to help businesses meet their information management and compliance needs. We can comprehensively manage your document storage and will work closely with you ensure that it is always functioning, as you need it to be.